The Convergence Zone

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“It will never happen here.” During Hurricane Harvey, much of metropolitan Houston received as much if not more rainfall than Seattle receives in an entire year. People ask, could we get 50 inches of rain here? The short answer is no, we could not. But the answer to the follow up—how much rain […]

Every time extreme rainfall and flooding affect a major American city, people ask about Seattle’s preparedness. “What if we received 50 inches of rainfall?” Over the next few weeks, I’ll use this (admittedly neglected) space to explore just how extreme rainfall could get in Seattle and how it relates to what’s happened in Texas. […]

That was one of the most intense 24-hour storm events Seattle has seen in a while. Post-frontal showers are still racing through the region, but they’re not likely to significantly add to storm totals. Each of SPU’s 22 reporting rain gages recorded over two inches in 24 hours. Five gages recorded at least […]

A large wind storm that landed well to our north provided strong southwesterly winds this morning. It also provided another, albeit non-King Tide, chance to monitor tides and coastal flooding. Wind readings from around the Sound more or less came in at 20mph sustained with gusts to about 30mph, notably weaker than recent […]

Last Monday’s weather forecast was not that exciting: a few snowflakes; otherwise cold and dry. More noteworthy was the fact that another round of King Tides was imminent. Predicted water levels Wednesday through Sunday were over 12-and-half feet (relative to mean lower-low water). The good news was that the same high pressure that […]

A stat largely lost in the shuffle toward early December snow is that SeaTac’s average temperature last month was 50.87 degrees. That’s its warmest November since records began there in 1949 (Downtown Seattle averaged 51.9 degrees in November 1899). 9 out of SeaTac’s 12 warmest all-time months have occurred this decade. 8 […]

Last Monday’s forecast summary: • Light rain ending this morning. • Near-record high temps are expected to peak in the mid-60s tomorrow. • Steady rain is likely again on Friday. • Extended forecasts have 4-5 systems, none appearing strong, arriving over the next 2 weeks. The 7-day precipitation forecast called for 1- to […]

Last Monday’s (Halloween) forecast summary: • A few showers with wind today and tomorrow. • Somewhat steadier rain is likely late Wednesday into Thursday. • More substantial rain is possible by the weekend. • Extended forecasts suggest continued wet conditions. The 7-day precipitation forecast called for 2.5- to 4.0-inches across the Tolt and […]

October 2016 was the wettest October ever recorded in Seattle. 10.05 inches fell at Sea-Tac, which is 1.09 inches more than the previous record (2003) and 6.57 inches more than normal. Coincidentally, 6.57 inches is normal rainfall for November, so two months of rain fell in one. It was only the tenth time that […]

Back on the fifth of July, the temperature in Seattle only reached a high of 67 degrees. Seven degrees cooler than normal, it was the coolest day in weeks. (It would end up being the coldest day of the month.) Headlines and hashtags cried “Jul-tober” as if it somehow resembled October’s 53-degree average. […]